Aug. 1, 2013

Grown mainly for their colorful foliage and compact growth habit, coral bells are becoming more collectible. New lines of plants continue to be produced and marketed. This year, a new soda pop line joins coral bell theme collections such as candy flavors, desserts and more. / Rob Zimmer/Post-Crescent Media

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Many gardeners in our area are beginning to discover coral bells, or heucheras, along with their cousins, foamy bells, or tiarellas.

A new series of plants crossed between the two are known as heucherellas. Between these three families of beautifully designed plants for shade or part shade, the number of plants available to gardeners is astounding, along with the variety in color, shape, size and texture.

Fun new series of plants have been introduced by clever plant marketing corporations and growers that include many coral bells named after delicious desserts, alcoholic drinks, candy and chocolate, as well as a growing line of plants named after soda pop.

Most of these names are derived from the highly colorful, often patterned leaves that represent their names surprisingly well. For example, Caramel features leaves colored a tasty, caramel brown. Plum Pudding is colored a rich, deep plum purple.

Coral bells, also known as alum root, are native to North America, with nearly 3 dozen species in the wild. Hybridization of the native varieties has resulted in the hundreds of garden varieties that are now on the market. Each year, dozens of new hybrids are introduced, including more and more of the new heucherella crosses.

Heucherella hybrids are becoming increasingly popular because they combine the more intricate foliage and fuller flowers of the foam flowers with the size and rich colors of the coral bells.

Caring for coral bells

Coral bells are unusual in that they are shade-loving or shade tolerant plants that beam with vibrant color. They also form nice, manageable clumps that do not need a great deal, if any, care and do not spread and colonize areas of your garden.

Since their flowers are not particularly showy, many gardeners choose to simply snip off the flower stalks as they appear. However, I think these nice, airy plumes of thin, fine flowers give the garden a delicate motion in even the slightest breeze and prefer to let them do their thing. Additionally, hummingbirds love coral bell flowers.

Once they bloom, coral bells remain “green,” or whatever color you decide on, all winter long, even under the snow.

In spring, all that is needed is a little pruning of the old, dead foliage to allow the fresh leaves of the season to shine. Even this practice is not truly necessary as the plants are very low maintenance and take care of themselves.

Coral bells, because of their growth habit, are subject to heaving with the freezes and thaws of winter, and care should be taken to watch for this and reset when necessary. A plant heaved by frost will not survive longer than a season or two.

Resetting is simple, just pop the plant out of the ground and replant more deeply.

The same is true for dividing. Some coral bells grow faster than others and may be divided every three to four years. Division is simple, just dig up the plant and separate into separate, easy to handle rosettes of growth. Replant these divisions in their new location and water in well.

A coral bell sampler

With so many varieties of coral bells to choose from, and many great garden centers that offer a large selection, finding these plants is a breeze. Deciding which plants to purchase, however, may not be so easy. With so many beautiful, creatively named varieties to choose from, the choices may seem overwhelming.

Many gardeners shop by color, looking for a nice variety of color and leave shape to compliment and contrast each other, as well as the other plants in their garden.

Here are a few varieties, organized by color, to be on the lookout for.

For shade, the color orange is a very unique and interesting color to experiment with and coral bells allow you to do just that. Caramel is perhaps the best known of the orange-hued coral bells, along with Peach Melba, Mahogany and Crimson Curls. Champagne is an interesting shade of orange and silver, while Ginger Ale closely resembles the orange-brown blend of color the soft drink is known for.

Bright lime green is a great color to brighten up shade and there are several coral bells available in this popular color. Lime Rickey is a colorfully named plant for its bright, chartreuse leaves that feature heavy texturing. This plant blooms with white flowers in spring and early summer. Key Lime Pie is another, larger plant with pinkish flowers. This plant is also able to stand more heat and sun.

There are many coral bells available in the color silver, which is another interesting color for the shade garden. Silver colored plants include Hollywood and Green Spice, which features deep green leaves splashed with silver.

For those after the color purple, there are many coral bells available in this hot color. Perhaps the best known classic coral bell is Palace Purple, a huge plant that features deep purple foliage with a reddish underside. This variety is very common and also is a fast grower, meaning you will have many new plants in a short time. Plum Pudding is another deep purple variety and, depending on light conditions, may appear a pale, purple -gray.